An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
English-French-Persian

A suffix forming a noun meaning "healing, medical practice." Same as → -iatry.

From -iatr(y), from Gk. iateria "heling," iatros "heal", + → -ics.

Pezeški, → medicine, darmâni, from darmân, → remedy.

Same as → -iatrics.

A suffix forming adjectives from nouns and bearing several senses; adjective suffix of nouns ending in → -ics.

→ -ics.

A suffix of nouns that denotes science, knowledge, principles, characteristic actions or activities, such as → physics, → statistics, → ballistics, politics, ethics. See also → -logy.

Suffix -ics, from -ic + plural suffix -s, from O.Fr. -ique, from L. -icus, Gk. -ikos; cf. O.E. -ig, from P.Gmc. *-iga, Ger. -ig.

Mod.Pers. -ik, from Mid.Pers. -ik or -ig, possibly from the Av. noun and adjective forming suffix -ika, -ka, -aka (as in ainika- "face," maršdika- "mercy," pairikā- "fairy," kasvika- "trifling," kutaka- "small," ahmāka- "ours"). In Mid.Pers. it had an extensive use for creating adjectives of relation. Some examples:
cihrik, cihrig "natural," from cihr (Mod.Pers. cehr);
gohrik, gohrig "natural, essential," from gohr (Mod.Pers. gowhar);
gumânik, gumânig "doubtful," from gumân (Mod.Pers. gomân);
kunišnik "doable, related to action," from konišn (Mod.Pers. koneš);
mânik, mânig "household belonging, household member," from mân (Mod.Pers. mân);
manik "mine, related to me," from man (Mod.Pers. man);
narik "related to male," from nar (Mod.Pers. nar);
xvartik, xwarišnig "edible," from xvart, xwarišn (Mod.Pers. xord, xoreš);
gâsânik, gâhânig "related to the Gathas (the oldest songs of the Avesta, which are attributed to Zarathushtra himself)," from gâsân (Mod.Pers. gâhân);
dâtik, dâdig "legal, concerned with the law," from dât (Mod.Pers. dâd).

Although it has changed into -i in Mod.Pers. (like O.E. -ig into E. -y, as in juicy, dreamy), it is extant in a number of adjectives: târik "dark;" nazdik "near;" bârik "narrow;" zandik (Arabicized zandiq) "heretic;" Monjik (Termezi), pen name of an 11th century Persian poet, from monj "honeybee," referring to his poems being as sweet as honey. The suffix is active in the Tabari dialect, as in larzenik "subject to fear, full of fear, timorous, fearful," ramendik "timid, fugitive," xordinik "very small," bermendik, bərmənik "person who cries easily, highly sensitive person," from bərmən "cry," and also appears as -ij in yušij "related to, belong to Yuš (a famous village in Mâzandarân)," and in the dialect of Boyin-Zahra dehij "villager, peasant, rustic" from deh "village." In recent years -ik has been reactivated in technical terminology to render E. -ics (Fr. -ique, Ger. -ik), as in the following examples: âvâyik "phonetics;" farmânik "cybernetics;" ma'nâyik "semantics;" nurik "optics;" partâbik "ballistics;" tavânik, niruyik "dynamics;" zabânik "linguistics."

The revival of -ik is interesting for several reasons, mainly:
a) In the European scientific terminology, branches of science are denoted by two suffixes:
1) -logy, as in biology, geology, mineralogy, etc. The Pers. counterpart of this suffix is the widely used -šenâsi, → -logy;
2) -ics, as in biotics, dynamics, kinematics, mathematics, etc. Lacking a Pers. equivalent until recently, -ics was equated with -logy. However, the Pers. suffix -ik produces helpful semantic nuances and allows us new constructions from the same base, for example:
→ biology "zistšenâsi;"
→ biotics "zistik."
b) Moreover, in some cases -ik is more efficient than -šenâsi. For example, if we translate ballistics by partâbšenâsi, how should we render ballistic missile? Mušak-e partâbšenâsi, mušak-e partâbšenâxti, or mušak-e partâbšenâsâné? All these possibilities seem unfitting, and no matter which adjective we choose among them the problem remains. The reason is that here ballistic does not really refer to the science (-šenâsi) but points to the action of throwing, → ballistic missile. This problem can be turned around using -ik: mušak-e partâbik.
c) It is not phonetically straightforward in Pers. to make adjectives with the -i suffix from words which end in -i, in particular with -šenâsi. The use of -ik solves this problem and produces adjectives which themselves do not end in -i, for example → astronomical unit "yekâ-ye axtaršnâsik" instead of "~ axtaršnâxti".

A suffix used to form names of chemical compounds.

From -ide, extracted from Fr. → oxide.

Suffix denoting "family of," as in Andromedids, Aquarids, Bielids, Draconids, Geminids, Perseids, and so on.

Plural form of L. -id-, from -is, Gk. fem. patronymic suffix; or from L. -ides, from Gk. masc. patronymic suffix.

-iyân plural form of -i, suffix of relation, adjective + -y- euphonic infix (epenthesis) + -ân plural suffix, as in Haxâmanešiyân "Achaemenids," Sâsâniyân "Sasanides," and so on.

1a) A suffix forming the present participle of verbs, e.g. going, observing, writing.
1b) A suffix forming adjectives from participles, e.g. a moving object, a flying bird, a crying baby.
1c) A suffix forming an adjective not derived from a verb, e.g. swashbuckling.
2) A suffix that forms nouns denoting the action of, process of, result of, or something connected with the verb preceding it, e.g. becoming, sleeping, working.

1) M.E. -ing, -inde, from O.E. -ende; cf. Ger. -end, Goth. -and, Gk. -on, L. -ans, Skt. -ant, Av. -ant, Pers. -ân.
2) O.E. -ing, -ung; cf. O.N. -ing, Du. -ing, Ger. -ung.

A suffix denoting several senses, including state or condition, devotion or adherence, principle, doctrine, act, process.

From Gk. -ismos, -isma noun suffixes, often directly, often through L. -ismus, -isma, sometimes through Fr. -isme, Ger. -ismus (all ultimately from Gk.); → -ist.

A suffix of nouns, often corresponding to verbs ending in -ize or nouns ending in → -ism, that is used to form an agent noun indicating adherence to a certain doctrine or custom, practicing a particular skill or profession, and so on.

From Fr. -iste, from L. -ista, from Gk. -istes.

-bâvar, from bâvar "belief;" Mid.Pers. wâbar "belief;" Proto-Iranian *uar- "to choose; to convince; to believe;" cf. Av. var- "to choose; to convince" varəna-, varana- "conviction, faith;" O.Pers. v(a)r- "to choose; to convince;" Skt. vr- "to choose," vara- "choosing."
-gerâ, from gerâyidan "to incline toward; to intend; to make for," infinitive of gerâ, the etymology of which is not clear. Gerâ may be a variant of Mod.Pers. kil "bent, inclined" (k/g and l/r interchanges), from PIE base *klei- "to lean, incline," cognate with L. clinare "to bend" (E. declination, inclination, etc.), Gk. klinein "to cause to slope, slant, incline," Skt. sri- "to lean," O.Pers. θray-, Av. sray- "to lean," (cf. Ger. lehnen, E. lean).
-gerow, -gerav present stem of geravidan "to believe, confide in; to obey;" Mid.Pers. virrôy(i)stan , related to bâvar, as above, ultimately from Proto-Iranian *uar- (Cheung 2007).
-gar from kar-, kardan "to do, to make" (Mid.Pers. kardan; O.Pers./Av. kar- "to do, make, build;" Av. kərənaoiti "makes;" cf. Skt. kr- "to do, to make;" krnoti "makes," karma "act, deed;" PIE base k^wer- "to do, to make").
-mand possession suffix, from Mid.Pers. -omand; O.Pers./Av. -mant; cf. Skt. -mant.

A suffix of adjectives denoting "relating to, characteristic of;" often in adjectives corresponding to nouns in → -ism or nouns in → -ist.

L. -isticus, from Gk. -istikos, → -ist + → -ic.

1) A noun suffix denoting especially minerals, fossils, explosives, and chemical compounds.
2) A suffix denoting a native, inhabitant, adherent, follower, etc.

From Fr. -ite and directly from L. -ita, from Gk. -ites.

A suffix used to form abstract nouns expressing state, degree, or condition: metallicity, luminosity, periodicity, Gaussianity.

From M.E. -ite, from O.Fr. -ité, from L. -itas (-itat-), from -i- (thematic or, rarely, connective vowel) + -tas (-tat-), may be cognate with Av./Skt. -tāt (as in Av. uparatāt, Skt. uparátāt "supremacy," Av. ha^urvatāt, Skt. sarvátāt "completeness").

The suffix -igi, from -ig adj. suffix, variant of -ik, → -ic, + -i noun suffix.

Note: The Pers. suffix -i forms state/condition nouns from adjectives, as in: xubi, zešti, râsti, âzâdi, tanhâyi. There is though a phonetic problem when the adj. ends in -i, since two successive i's are not easily articulable, e.g.: felez "metal," felezi "metallic," *felezii "metallicity." Mid.Pers. did not have this problem, since the adj. suffix was -îg or -îk (instead of -i) and the noun suffix -îh (instead of -i). Some examples in Mid.Pers.: tuhîg "empty," tuhîgîh "emptiness," tuwânîg "able," tuwânîgîh "ability," spurrîg "complete," spurrîgîh "completeness, perfection," nazdîk "near," nazdîkîh "proximity." A way out of this phonetic problem is to use the Mid.Pers. -igi. This solution, first introduced in the case of tohi, tohigi (→ void), was generalized by M. Sch. Adib-Soltâni (Irânigi, Âlmânigi, darunâxtigi, borunâxtigi, etc.). This seems a natural solution since the adj. suffix -i is the evolution of the Mid.Pers. -ig, and moreover Pers. currently revives the g phoneme in comparable phonetic situations, as in the ending phoneme -é (-eh), which derives from Mid.Pers. -ag. A number of examples: adj. âzâdé, n. âzâdegi; adj. tâbandé, n. tâbandegi; adj. mardâné, n. mardânegi; likewise xâné, xânegi, setâré, setâregân; âzâdé, âzâdegân. Interestingly, the -igi suffix has this specified function in some dialects, for example (Tajik, Šahrezâ-yi) xâligi "emptiness," from xâli.
Some examples for the use of -igi in this work: felezigi, → metallicity; mâddigi, → materiality; beyzigi, → ellipcity, tâštigi, → certainty, etc.

1) A suffix occurring in names of → chemical elements, such as → barium, → sodium, → titanium, → uranium. Variant -um, as in → lanthanum.
2) It also occurs in names of chemical radicals (ammonium, carbonium) and ions of complex cations (imidazolium, nitrosylium, pyridinium).

From L. suffix forming certain neuter nouns (odium, tedium, colloquium; equilibrium, millennium; collegium, consortium), from Gk. -ion.

A suffix forming adjectives from verbs expressing tendency, disposition, function, connection, etc.: active; corrective; destructive; detective; passive; sportive.

From L. -ivus, but sometimes from O.Fr. -if.

-i and -andé current suffixes.

A verb-forming suffix occurring originally in loanwords from Gk. that have entered English through L. or Fr.

From M.E. -isen, from O.Fr. -iser, from L.L. -izare, from Gk -izein.

-idan, -astan infinitive suffixes; kardan "to do, to make," auxiliary verb of compound verbs (Mid.Pers. kardan; O.Pers./Av. kar- "to do, make, build;" Av. kərənaoiti "he makes;" cf. Skt. kr- "to do, to make," krnoti "he makes, he does," karoti "he makes, he does," karma "act, deed;" PIE base k^wer- "to do, to make").

The seventeenth of Saturn's known satellites and the third largest. It is 1436 km across and revolves around Saturn at a mean distance of 3.5 million km with a period of 79 days. The most unique and perhaps most remarkable feature on Iapetus is a topographic ridge 13 km higher than the surrounding terrain, as discovered in the images obtained with Cassini spacecraft. The ridge extends at least 1300 km almost exactly parallel with Iapetus's equator.

Iapetus was one of the Titan gods, sons of Ouranos (Heaven) and Gaia (Earth). Discovered 25 October 1671 by Jean-Dominique Cassini.

A small → dwarf irregular galaxy belonging to the → Local Group, which is located in the constellation → Cassiopeia. IC 10 is about 2.3 million light-years distant and about 5,000 light-years across. With an absolute B magnitude of -16.5, IC 10 has an integrated luminosity that is comparable to that of the → Small Magellanic Cloud, although it is considerably smaller. Its → metallicity is roughly a factor of 2 higher than that of the SMC and in the same proportion smaller than → LMC's. Compared to other Local Group galaxies, IC 10 has a large population of newly formed stars that are massive and intrinsically very bright, especially → Wolf-Rayet stars. Its W-R star density is larger than those of the LMC and SMC. Moreover, the relative number of known → WC to → WN type Wolf-Rayet stars is unusually high, which is unexpected for IC 10's metallicity. IC 10 is also known to be unusual in having → H I gas that extends about 7 times the optical dimensions of the galaxy. IC 10 is the nearest example of a → starburst galaxy. IC 10 was discovered by the American astronomer Lewis A. Swift (1820-1913) in 1887.

Number 10 in the → Index Catalogue.

A → dwarf irregular galaxy (also called Caldwell 51) located in the constellation → Cetus. IC 1613 is a member of the → Local Group of galaxies and has a → morphological classification of IBm (Irregular Barred, → Magellanic type galaxy). IC 1613 has a very → low surface brightness and a very low → dust content. It lies just over 2.38 ± 0.07 million → light-years away from us. IC 1613's distance is known to a remarkably high precision, partly due to the unusually low levels of dust lying both within the galaxy and along the line of sight from the → Milky Way. Moreover, the galaxy hosts a number of → Cepheid variables and → RR Lyrae variables which can be used to precisely determine distances. It was discovered by Max Wolf in 1906.

IC, short for → Index Catalogue.

A bright → emission nebula running north to south near → Alnitak, the eastern star of → Orion's Belt. It is the bright background nebula against which the famous dark region called the → Horsehead Nebula stands out.

IC, → Index Catalogue.

1) The solid form of water; it is found in the atmosphere as snow crystals, hail, ice pellets, etc., and on the Earth's surface in forms such as frost, rime, glaze, glacier ice, etc.
2) The solid, frozen form of gases in cold astronomical objects.

Ice, from O.E. is "ice," from P.Gmc. *isa-; cf. O.N. iss, O.Fris. is, Du. ijs, Ger. Eis. Cognate with Pers. yax, as below.

Yax, from Av. aexa- "ice, frost," isav-, isu- "icy, chilly;" cf. Sarikoli (Pamir dialect) īš "cold;" P.Gmc. *isa-, as above.